An important aspect of most any business or organization's daily operations is the ability to handle incoming telephone calls in an efficient and timely manner. One well known way to handle a multitude of incoming telephone lines is the use of a private branch exchange (PBX) or central exchange (Centrex). A PBX or Centrex is a telephone exchange system serving an organization, which may be coupled with multiple incoming and outgoing trunk lines and multiple telephone sets at the organization's premises. PBX or Centrex systems provide a variety of functions such as switching of calls from the incoming trunk lines to any of the extensions, switching calls between two extensions, and switching calls between extensions and outgoing trunk lines. Numerous PBX and Centrex systems are well known and commercially available.
A number of call processing and voice messaging systems are known in the art and are commercially available which may be coupled with a PBX or Centrex and used to automate the answering of incoming calls from the outside telephone network and the taking of messages when the extensions are not answered by the called parties. Such voice messaging systems incorporate features such as the recording of voice messages for users in what are known as user's "mailboxes". Such voice messaging systems may be accessed by users calling from PBX extensions or from the telephone network over incoming trunks.
These prior systems can be categorized into four main types of systems: 1) call processing systems sometimes called automated attendant systems for directing incoming calls to an extension, 2) call processing systems usually called voice messaging systems for handling a call that does not complete connection to an extension, 3) two-way voice messaging systems or voice store and forward systems for speaking messages to a caller from fixed address mailboxes, and 4) interactive voice response systems for retrieving data from a database of information in response to a caller request and speaking messages to a caller.
In the first category of prior art systems, the automated attendant system answers incoming trunk calls by instructing the PBX or Centrex to direct the incoming calls to a group of extensions. Voice ports of the system are coupled with this group of extensions and appear to the PBX or Centrex simply as single line telephone sets. Typically, the automated attendant system will answer a call directed to it and provide a prerecorded voice message asking the caller to enter the extension number to which he/she desires to be connected. Depending on the specific automated attendant system, the caller may be offered the option of being transferred to a PBX or Centrex attendant. Examples of such automated attendant systems include Dytel, Inc. and a call processing and voice messaging system called Direct Access Link (D.I.A.L) manufactured by the assignee of the present invention.
In the second category of prior art systems, an important voice messaging function is included for the handling of calls which do not successfully complete connection to the originally intended extension (the extension was busy, did not answer, or had been intentionally places in a mode in which it was not accepting calls). Such a function may be accomplished in known voice messaging systems by instructing the PBX or Centrex to forward all such unanswered calls to a group of extensions coupled with the voice ports of the voice messaging system. The voice messaging system may then answer the uncompleted calls. Various methods are known in the art whereby the PBX or Centrex systems provide information to the voice messaging system regarding the identification of the caller and the called party. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,462, Ladd et al. Depending on the specific voice messaging system, the caller may be allowed to leave a voice message or call another extension. Known prior art systems of this kind include a call processing system manufactured by Digital Sound, Inc., Octel, Inc., AT&T, Inc. and a call processing and voice messaging system called Direct Access Link (D.I.A.L) manufactured by the assignee of the present invention.
The third category of prior art systems include two-way voice messaging systems for storing and forwarding voice messages from preassigned fixed mailbox addresses between users of such systems. Each user of such a two-way voice messaging system is assigned a "voice mailbox" which he/she uses to record and send messages to other users and to listen to messages received from other users. These fixed mailbox addresses are typically configured and installed in the voice messaging system when a new "user" is added to the system. Such a prior art system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,129, Matthews et al.
The fourth category of prior systems include interactive voice response systems for retrieving data from a database of information in response to a caller request. The retrieved data is then converted to audible form and spoken as a message to a caller. For example, a prior art system may be used by a caller to audibly receive the balance in a bank account. These interactive voice response systems are typically limited to a specific set of applications where transactions between a caller and the system are highly predictable. Such an interactive voice response system is manufactured by Intervoice Inc. of Dallas, Tex.
Several problems have arisen with these prior art approaches for a call processing, voice messaging, or interactive voice response system. The main drawback with prior art call processing and messaging systems is a lack of flexibility, or in the case of an interactive voice response system, the inability to design applications which take advantage of the capabilities of a call processing and messaging system. Such systems are limited in their ability to be customized for the various applications in which a call processing and messaging system might be used. For example, the prior art automated attendant systems can be improved to provide a means for directing a call to different extensions depending upon many application and caller-specific conditions. Such conditions include, for example, the identity of the caller, account status of the caller, and a variety of other conditions specific to a particular application. If calls to a desired extension are not completed, stored application-related voice information such as customer-specific instructions can be spoken to the called party. Prior art systems are unsuited to the unpredictable and variant needs of these diverse call processing applications.
It is often convenient for an organization to have a single incoming telephone number used for general customer assistance or general information. It would be desirable to provide more flexibility in handling such calls. In prior art systems, incoming calls to such a general information telephone number would be routed to the fixed address associated with the telephone line which could be routed to one available (i.e. not busy) called party of a group of called parties. Thus, a fixed mailbox for each called party in the group of called parties would be used to inconveniently store messages for a general assistance line. Callers using prior art systems and the organization receiving incoming telephone calls are not able to communicate in an application-specific, individualized, and efficient manner. Such systems can be improved by allowing any message to be routed to any available mailbox. Prior art systems often require intervention by a live operator in order to properly handle incoming telephone calls. In addition, applications using prior art systems are often slaved to the capabilities provided by the system and not to the needs of the particular application.
Prior art interactive voice response systems are not flexible enough to respond in various ways to the content of information retrieved from a database in a particular application. Such systems can be improved by incorporating processing logic into the system for tailored handling of the vast number of different cases and situations presented by a database of information in many diverse applications. In addition, as situations or conditions change, prior art systems can be improved by allowing call and message processing logic modification without disrupting normal operation of the system.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a call processing and messaging system that integrates PBX or Centrex call information with application-specific and database information to create a more flexible and adaptable system customized to the needs of a particular application using the call processing and messaging system. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a call processing and messaging system that may handle calls differently depending on the source of the call. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a call processing and messaging system that does not require a fixed mailbox address to be associated with calling or called parties. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a call processing and messaging system that uses customized logic to handle incoming calls and messages. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a call processing and messaging system that allows customized call processing and messaging logic to be modified while the system is still operating.